Contents:
1. Introduction: UNISON and public service trade unionism Michael Terry
Part I. UNISON: Structures and Processes
2. The creation of UNISON Rodney Bickerstaffe
3. The making of UNISON: a framework to review key events, processes and issues Bob Fryer
4. UNISON's management of the merger and beyond Michael Dempsey
5. UNISON's approach to organisation development in a democratic organisation Margaret Wheeler
6. Strategic review and organisational change in UNISON Trevor Colling and Tim Claydon
7. Promoting representation of women within UNISON Anne McBride
8. Working with Labour: the impact of UNISONs political settlement Maggie Jones
9. UNISON and New Labour: Searching for new relationships Tom Sawyer
Part II. The UNISON Agenda
10. UNISON and changes in collective bargaining in health and local government Carole Thornley, Mike Ironside and Roger Seifert
11. UNISON and low pay policy Peter Morris
12. UNISON and low pay policy: a comment on Morris Carole Thornley
13. UNISONs approach to lifelong learning Anne Munro and Helen Rainbird
14. UNISONs approach to lifelong learning: a comment on Munro and Rainbird Jim Sutherland
15. Between elation and despair: UNISON and the new social policy agenda Mick Carpenter
16. UNISON and the quality of public service provision: any lessons from the rest of Europe? Michael Terry
17. Towards an organising model in UNISON? A trade union membership strategy in transition Jeremy Waddington and Allan Kerr
18. Reflections on UNISON after five years John Monks

This stimulating collection of essays by distinguished British, American, Australian and German scholars, originally published in 1985, offers a picture of the upsurge of New Unionism and the growth of old unions, and looks at the severe setbacks which occurred in the labour movements of Britain and Germany between the 1880s and the First World War. Labour history is seen from a European perspective and special emphasis is placed on the role of the state in Britain and Germany in its desire to contain and suppress trade union activity by law or force. Insights are provided into the political allegiances of the unions and their members to the parties of the working class and the state.

Worker Activism After Successful Union Organizing shows how different levels of worker participation during an organizing campaign influence the perceptions and actions of those same workers after a campaign ends and, thereby, the long-term effectiveness and success of the organizing effort. Drawing on historical and current examples, Markowitz analyzes the political and economic contexts within which today's unions are organizing, and she proves that the act of organizing is a long-term process that continues far beyond an actual campaign. And, in today's anti-union business climate, this book sends a clear message that the key to the future vitality of labor is to involve all workers more fully in the organizing process.

Although it is hardly publicized, something remarkable is happening to Organized Labor. Key players in the United States and abroad are busy modernizing their communications, and making creative and effective use of computers and other technology. Drawing on "infotech" devices (computer networks, the Internet, video conferencing, fax machines, wireless communication, and multi-media), Labor struggles to renew its "voice" and "ears", and, in the process, new hope has been stirred that this just might help it transform its organizational culture, refine its mission, and reinvent itself.

The road to creating a CyberUnion (the combination of four strategic reform aids -- futuristics, innovations, services, and traditions -- knitted together with infotech resources into a comprehensive industrial relations model) has already begun and unions already embracing this model are ensuring a position of strength in the 21st century. CyberUnion is a bold plan for Organized Labor to remain strong for many decades to come, and this work examines the components of the model, progress already made, and plans to ensure continued success.

Shows how different levels of worker participation during a union organizing campaign influence the perceptions and actions of those same workers after the campaign ends, and, thereby, the long-term effectiveness and success of the organizing effort. Drawing on historical and current examples, the author analyzes the political and economic contexts within which today's unions are organizing, including a detailed examination of the impact of the Wagner Act.

Key players in organized labour in the USA and abroad are busy modernizing their communications and making creative and effective use of computers and other technology. The author of this book argues that the road to CyberUnion has begun and that those unions are ensuring a future strength.

Unemployment in Theory and Practice examines the effectiveness of current policies in the battle against unemployment. It uses a variety of country case studies to analyse the range of potential causes of and cures for unemployment and analyses the complex nature of labour markets. This volume surveys the policy options and prescribes a mix of both macro and microeconomic policies to combat unemployment effectively. The contributors address the issue of policy targeted groups, including self-employed and older workers, and offer a comprehensive survey of key empirical findings. Issues considered include the rising number of self-employed in Australia and the labour market prospects for the aged in Germany. Particular labour market policies are discussed including the role of training and concerted international action through social democratic and trade union collaboration. The nature of unemployment in countries characterized by economic and social transformation, such as Bulgaria and Poland, is also analysed in detail. The final section of the book is dedicated to wage policy and compensatory pay for the unemployed. It challenges the conventional neoclassical wisdom that wage constraints and limited trade union power will necessarily lead to labour market improvements and reduced unemployment. Evidence from Germany and South Africa is used to argue that collective action is a promising policy alternative. International in scope, the book will be essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students of economics, political economy, industrial relations and international economics. It will also appeal to professional economists, sociologists, political scientists, trade unionists and policy advisors.

This study examines how unions representing telephone workers--one in Mexico and one in British Columbia, Canada--have responded to changes in technology, work organization, and government policy stemming from the rise of a more global economy. Some business writers have suggested that globalization will compel unions to cooperate with managers as workers are more exposed to international competition. By analyzing the actual record of two unions in the highly internationalized telecommunications industry, however, a different picture emerges.

This volume:
* explores the extent to which European Industrial Relations systems are converging
*explores what has been the unions' reaction to changes in the economic environment
* includes studies from key sectors: electronics, food manufacturing, banking and public administration
* compares trade unions in these sectors in five of Europes most important economies: Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy and Denmark

This study looks at union responses to the changes in the Latin American automobile industry over the past 15 years. Chapters focus on Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, and Venezuela, while considering the impact of the shift toward export production and regional integration. In addition, contributing authors discuss the degree to which political changes (the breakdown and perpetuation of authoritarian rule and state-corporatism) have influenced unions' responses to reorganization.

This study looks at union responses to the changes in the Latin American automobile industry over the past 15 years. Chapters focus on Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, Mexico, and Venezuela, while considering the impact of the shift toward export production and regional integration. In addition, contributing authors discuss the degree to which political changes (the breakdown and perpetuation of authoritarian rule and state-corporatism) have influenced unions' responses to reorganization.

First Published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This book, first published in 1994, explores the impact of work and gender roles on union activism, and identifies factors that support and hinder women's representation in trade unions. These issues are discussed in terms of gender role, work-related and union-related factors. The author details what trade unionists are doing to challenge inequalities that still exist, and identifies factors that divide and unite men and women within trade unions. The author shows the impact that feminism has had on the trade union movement and explores the extent to which men and women have similar priorities for collective bargaining.

In this book, first published in 1975, the author examines the role of women in the workforce. Despite representing a rapidly increasing section of the workforce, why are women still overwhelmingly confined to unskilled jobs? Why do they hold such a tiny proportion of managerial and professional posts? In answering these vital questions Ross Davies shows how women's economic roles in pre-industrial society were modified and distorted by industrialisation; how this legacy of exploitation has affected contemporary attitudes among both men and women; and how the present situation should be seen and assessed in its proper perspective.

This book, first published in 1941, is concerned to relate the argument for Trade Unionism to the needs of women who work, whether in their homes or outside them. It is, in part, a historical analysis of the inter-war years, and it also prefigures the changes to women's working conditions brought about by the two World Wars. War necessitated the mass employment of women, and Trade Union action had greatly improved the position of the woman war-worker of 1941 compared to a quarter century previously. This invaluable book examines that Trade Union action.

Arthur Horner (1894-1968) was a miners' leader from the 1926 general strike to his retirement as general secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers in 1959. During his life, he played a crucial role in the fight for a national mineworkers union, and in the development of the National Coal Board; he was a champion of the Republicans in Spain; he was imprisoned several times for his views; and, he was in constant demand as a speaker. But it was his warmth, good humour and enthusiasm which made 'little Arthur', as he was affectionately known by his union colleagues, really memorable.

This is an appraisal of current offshore industrial relations, and safety regulations instituted after the 1988 Alpha disaster in the North Sea. This text discusses the oil industry's attempts to contain subsequent, unwelcome regulatory interference, and examines the fraught history of trade unionism in the offshore industry, the conflict over health and safety, and the sometimes brutal struggle over union rights as the workforce attempted to achieve a collective voice in the reshaping of the safety and production environment. The authors conclude that, as yet, offshore safety has been little, or not at all, improved.

Since the beginning of the 1980s, British trade unions have experienced a dramatic retreat, marked by rapidly falling membership and declining industrial power. The authors examine the regional dimensions of this retreat of organised labour, paying particular attention to:
The resilience of the unions' historical heartland areas. The impact of economic restructuring on local union traditions. The shrinking landscape of industrial militancy. The geographical decentralization of the new industrial relations. The link between these factors and the more general debate on regional development and regional labour markets.
An important synthesis of economic geography and industrial relations work, this book marks a major contribution towards the newly emerging field of labour geography

In the midst of the freezing winter of 1978-79, more than 2,000 strikes, infamously coined the "Winter of Discontent," erupted across Britain as workers rejected the then Labour Government's attempts to curtail wage increases with an incomes policy. Labour's subsequent electoral defeat at the hands of the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher ushered in an era of unprecedented political, economic, and social change for Britain. A potent social myth also quickly developed around the Winter of Discontent, one where "bloody-minded" and "greedy" workers brought down a sympathetic government and supposedly invited the ravages of Thatcherism upon the British labour movement. 'The Winter of Discontent' provides a re-examination of this crucial series of events in British history by charting the construction of the myth of the Winter of Discontent. Highlighting key strikes and bringing forward the previously-ignored experiences of female, black, and Asian rank-and-file workers along-side local trade union leaders, the author places their experiences within a broader constellation of trade union, Labour Party, and Conservative Party changes in the 1970s, showing how striking workers' motivations become much more textured and complex than the "bloody-minded" or "greedy" labels imply. The author further illustrates that participants' memories represent a powerful force of "counter-memory," which for some participants, frame the Winter of Discontent as a positive and transformative series of events, especially for the growing number of female activists. Overall, this fascinating book illuminates the nuanced contours of myth, memory, and history of the Winter of Discontent.

This book is not only about the tailoring industry and its trade unions; it is about the experience of eastern European immigrants in a trade as old as the Bible and yet as new as the electric sewing machine; it is about the role of women in a new industry and about the impact of socio-economic change on fashion. Finally, it is about the way in which sub-divisions and differences were accommodated under the umbrella of one particular trade union.

This book is not only about the tailoring industry and its trade unions; it is about the experience of eastern European immigrants in a trade as old as the Bible and yet as new as the electric sewing machine; it is about the role of women in a new industry and about the impact of socio-economic change on fashion. Finally, it is about the way in which sub-divisions and differences were accommodated under the umbrella of one particular trade union.

The relationship between the Conservative Party and the trade unions has been at best uneasy and more often than not hostile. This study examines the attitudes and policies of the Conservative Party towards the trade unions from the 19th century onwards, linking these to wider political and economic circumstances and the key personalities involved. Peter Dorey shows that there has always been disagreements within the Conservative Party as to how it should deal with the trade unions. These disagreements have in large part reflected divisions within British Conservatism itself, between the paternalist, "one nation" strand which has traditionally favoured a conciliatory approach to the trade unions, and the "economic liberal/social authoritarian" strand, which has always hankered after the virtual suppression of trade unionism.

This work provides a history of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Topics covered include: the union's influence on political legislation and global economy; the story of the East European immigrants at the turn of the 20th century; and the union's spirit of social reform.

This work provides a history of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union. Topics covered include: the union's influence on political legislation and global economy; the story of the East European immigrants at the turn of the 20th century; and the union's spirit of social reform.